Aquaculture

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector worldwide and is likely to play a large role in supporting future food security of the human population. In 2014 a milestone was reached in that aquaculture provided more fish for human consumption than wild captured fish, and this is set to continue to increase. It is therefore imperative to understand the impact that aquaculture can have on the environment and how the environment can affect aquaculture, so that we employ sustainable management practices which are supported by robust scientific evidence and advice.

In order to underpin the sustainable and profitable development of the aquaculture industry we are working to provide novel management tools and monitoring systems by bringing together our advanced modelling capabilities, satellite observation data, biofouling and socio-economic expertise.

These tools will account for increasing environmental change such as changes in temperature, storminess, wind and wave exposure, harmful algal blooms and other impacts from changes in carbon and nutrient cycling that are affecting the industry and will ultimately enable assessments of capacity and resilience to change.

Making a difference

The knowledge and resulting outputs from our work will enable those who work within aquaculture to gain a more in-depth understanding in relation to various environmental factors, facilitating better decision making for future sustainability, risk mitigation and compliance with regulatory requirements.

With concerns around sustainability of food security continuing to rise, a team of European aquaculture experts, including scientists from PML, will begin a four-year study worth almost €7 million to establish new strategies and models for sustainable growth in the industr...

PML has received funding worth more than £350,000 from a joint Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) programme to address key challenges to the aquaculture sector.

A PML led project involving a team of UK scientists is exploring the use of satellites and meteorological data to monitor and forecast water quality events threatening shellfish farms, for the benefit of the shellfish industry and, ultimately, consumers.